Wildgrain Mornington — Restaurant in Melbourne

Knocked off one star for the service and two for the underwhelming food.

In terms of service, it was honestly frustrating to even place an order. I kept my hand up for quite a while trying to get someone’s attention, but there was only one waitress in our section. She clearly noticed me with my hand up twice, and my sister once, but she just ignored us. I get that her job might’ve only been delivering food and not taking orders, but a simple “someone will be with you shortly” or signaling another waiter would’ve gone a long way. Instead, we were left feeling awkward and ignored, which is such an unpleasant way to start a meal.

We ordered the croquettes and beef tartare as starters, and the pork belly and ravioli for mains. Out of all of them, the croquettes were the only redeeming dish. Crispy and solid. The beef tartare, on the other hand, had a weirdly sweet taste to it. We chalked it up to personal preference and powered through, but it wasn’t great. Then came the mains, which were just… sad. The pork belly had a decent crust, but the inside was dry and completely flavorless. The ravioli? Also tasteless. Both dishes needed a generous sprinkle of salt just to make them palatable, which, for the price, is honestly baffling.

This was supposed to be our first stop on a road trip, and we were really excited, but the whole experience left us in a sour mood. It’s even more disappointing because this place has a 4.8 rating… how? I genuinely don’t get it.

Update:

Lowered my rating to 1 due to the restaurant's reply. Their reply claimed the staff member “did not notice” me raising my hand, but I clearly saw her make eye contact with me (and my sister) multiple times and ignore us. This completely undermines my experience and feels dismissive.

They also suggested I was impatient, but my issue was not the wait time—it was being ignored. Even a simple “someone will be with you shortly” would have made a difference. Lastly, criticizing me for leaving an honest review online felt unprofessional. Online reviews exist for customers to share their experiences, and that is exactly what I am doing. Not everyone is comfortable confronting staff during a meal, and it is unreasonable to expect that.

Instead of taking accountability, their response shifted blame and invalidated my concerns. Very...

I just wanted to start this review on the premise that we have dined at Wildgrain multiple, multiple times and always love it.

In this particular instance - one thing left a sour taste in my mouth - not for the food as the food was absolutely delicious.

I booked a large table group booking of 12 adults and 6 kids for my mum’s birthday.

I emailed and had a return email which advised me to call, I called and confirmed the booking over the phone and spoke to sombody twice (once to increase the number of people).

At no stage via emails and over the phone did anyone ever ask about dietary requirements.

When I arrived at the restaurant - I asked for no Ham/bacon etc as dietary requirements. The lady serving us said we can not make any changes to the set menu as it was my responsibility to let the restaurant know as per the terms and conditions.

I wasn’t aware that this was the case as nobody communicated this to me.

She then wanted to show me the emails and showed me that terms and conditions were sent to me to tell me this and said any changes would require a fee.

To be honest I didn’t look at the terms and conditions very closely as in previous times at this restaurant my dietary’s have never been an issue.

I just think this situation could of been handled a bit nicer- just embarrassing me infront of my family for not reading a massive list of t+c’s (attached as a picture) wasn’t really kind. She did go and check with the chefs after an awkward and almost hostile conversation towards me infront of my family and in the end an alternative for one croquet was provided for us which we were grateful for.

Perhaps she could have checked with the chefs before being so hostile and then come to say no/yes depending on their answer.

I will take some blame for not reading the t+cm however perhaps just for future guests in large group bookings perhaps just ask the question regarding dietary requirements at some stage during communication with the customer

Or if you are thinking about making a group bookings be sure to ask about dietary requirements.

I talked up this restaurant sooooo much to my family and was left very disappointed at this...

Time to celebrate my second Christmas and we decided to try something new and headed to Mornington. The choice today was Wildgrain, just off the main street.

We were warmly welcomed into a comfortable atmosphere and sat down to peruse the menu. It is not the most extensive list but the menu is very well balanced and caters to everyone, including us vegequarians, with a variety of choices.

We began with the Taramasalata with raw & pickled young vegetables, Salmon caviar and potato crisps. The flavour of the taramasalata is subtle but clearly defined and the pickled vegetables add a real bite. Great start.

For mains we opted to share two dishes. Tahini baked cauliflower with pickled grapes Persian cashew feta and sumac was the most tender example of cauliflower I have tasted. It was simply beautiful. My favourite for the day was the ricotta gnocchi with garden pesto, smoked Kipfler potatoes, buffalo mozzarella, pickled squash and Sean's spring blooms. The pesto was the most wonderful blend of herbs and is a genuinely different flavour in a very positive way.

We were brave enough to squeeze dessert in with my partner savouring a lemon tart and me loving a chocolate gateaux with raspberries that was light and delicious.

Wildgrain is a wonderful addition and we will definitely go back. The service was delightful, many of the vegies come from their own garden and all were beautifully prepared ad presented. This is a very relaxed environment, that looks good, feels nice and tastes...